Red Chevrolet

Partially Insane

This story begins on a Tuesday afternoon, six days before summer vacation for the younger class men and one day before my graduation. I was heading home from a work conference my dad had invited me to and I had to stop for gas on the way home. Everything was going smoothly until I was pulling out of the gas station parking lot. Like every good driver, I looked left then right and then looked left once more, just to be safe. I was about to pull onto the road when out of nowhere my passenger door is being opened and in hops a teenage girl.

Her hair is light brown, almost dirty blonde. It's cut to her shoulders in a choppy way and a ball cap sits atop her head. Her shirt is baggy and dark gray, tied on the side with a hair tie. She wears shorts that come at least five inches above her knees on her long legs. She has light gray eyes and a very serious expression, lips pursed.

"Uh, can I help you?" I asked, confused and slightly afraid.

"You sure can. But first, we need some tunes." She hit the radio button and switched from my favorite station to the oldies station where the Beach Boys were playing. The song was Wouldn't it be Nice and a smile grew across the girls face as she turned it up. "I need you to turn left." She said, pointing in the direction of preference.

"Now hold up-"

"You're building up traffic at a gas station! You need to move or the man behind us will crush your pitiful truck with his RAM." She said, cutting me off mid-sentence. I glanced behind me and realized she was right, the man began to honk his horn and look very, very angry.

Reluctantly, I turned left onto the road and began driving towards out-of-town. "So who are you?" I demanded, slightly annoyed that I wasn't at home sleeping or playing Halo.

"My name is Hazel Maeve Reddish. We go to school together. In fact, you're in my english class. I sit in the front and you're in the very back, always talking to your friends or flirting with Maggie Danzer." Hazel Maeve Reddish said matter-of-factly. This kind of scared me, I hadn't of thought that I had ever seen her before. But now that she said we go to the same school, I thought that maybe I had seen her once.

"Okay, and what do you want?" I pestered, not too pleasantly.

She sighed. "I want you to drive me to McCall, Idaho."

I nearly slammed on the brakes just then and had to force myself not to. "Uh, why?" I asked. Clearly this girl was crazy, right? There was no way I could (and no way I would) drive her all the way from Colorado to Idaho. It was a ridiculous thing to say or even think of!

"My best friend is there. I have no way of transportation to Idaho, I need you." She explained, which was no help because I still did not understand any part of this request she made.

I pulled over into a neighborhood and parked my red Chevrolet on the curb. I took a deep breath and then turned to Hazel Maeve Reddish. She looked innocent and completely serious, so obviously this wasn't a joke or a prank or even a dare. Right? But why else would she make a ridiculous request to someone she doesn't even know?

"Well?" Hazel said in a soft voice, eyes wide.

I ran a hand through my dark hair and shook my head. "No. No, I'm sorry. I can't drive you to Idaho. I don't even know why you asked that question. I don't even know who you are! I have never spoken to you until today and I can't just up-and-leave my life here." I said sternly, she would understand me. She had to, I was very blunt and clear.

"Sorry Mr. Pepperwhit but you're too late." She said, sending even more confusion into my brain.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Well you see, I have a friend who is a TA for the front desk people. I pulled a few strings and managed to get your daddy's phone number. Soon enough I had contacted your dad and then I carried on to explain that I was a 'secretary for the coach of McCall's finest hockey program.' Your dad totally bought into it! I said that I had seen you play in tournaments and thought that you'd fit in well with the team. After some more conversation, it was mentioned that you needed to come to Idaho and do tryouts and you'd hear back from the coach a few days later on whether or not you got on the team." Hazel Maeve said to me. "Your dad is talking to you about it once you get home." She clearly had every step planned and a solution for every flaw she knew she'd come to.

I shook my head in disbelief. How could my dad have believed that? I didn't play hockey at all this past year! I got a job and needed to focus on my grades for graduation instead. "Hazel, I don't even play hockey anymore." I said matter-of-factly.

She rolled her eyes. "Doesn't matter, I know you miss it. I know you loved playing it and you wish you never stopped. This isn't all a lie, you are signed up to tryout for McCall's hockey team this Thursday. I paid money for this and did a lot of 'spy action' so you better not disappoint." Hazel replied. When I stayed silent for a few seconds she continued to say more calmly, "I'm doing you a favor. By driving me to McCall you are given the opportunity to become a part of something great."

It felt like every ounce of guilt inside me was flowing through my veins if I said no to her. She paid who-knows-how-much so that I could tryout for a hockey team that was out of state. And all she was asking in return was for me to drive her to McCall to see her friend. Then we would come back home a week or so later. If Hazel had already gone through the trouble of explaining it to my parents then what harm could be done so long as I went with it? Idaho wasn't that far away from Colorado. Only six to eight hours, we could leave early in the morning and be there just past lunch.

"I can't." I said. I don't know why I said it, but I guess the more logical part of my brain was taking control. Clearly, it wanted me to stay home. Work. Graduate. Have fun.

Her face fell and even though I didn't know her, my heartached. There was nothing I could do now. I had said no and I couldn't change my mind and turn around saying yes.

"Oh. Okay. I'm sorry." Hazel reached for the door handle to let herself out of the truck but I stopped her. "Wait, I can drive you home." I said softly.

"No it's alright-"

"I insist." Hazel turned and gave me a look of annoyance and something else, I didn't know what to call it.

She narrowed her eyes. "Fine."

___

Hazel had a huge house. It was red brick with white paint. There was probably three levels and there were a lot of windows. They had a few acres, no close neighbors. The landscaping was beautiful so obviously her mom or dad loved outdoors work. Unless they had their own personal landscaper. My family had money just the same as Hazel Maeve, I admit. We had a big home and a few acres that weren't too far from the Hazel Maeve Reddish dwelling. They had a three-car garage. Maybe they had three cars or maybe they had one and just needed the space. 

Hazel hesitated before opening her door. All this time (I just realized) she had not been wearing a seatbelt. Instead of addressing this matter, I let it slide.

I figured that Hazel would say "goodbye" and leave but she didn't. She looked at me and said, "I know that tomorrow is graduation, so we wouldn't be able to leave tomorrow. If you change your mind then I'll be ready for you to pick me up Thursday morning."

Hazel Maeve Reddish didn't wait for my reply. She left my truck, closed the door, and vanished inside the safety of her home.